Hard disk drives are used to store digital data content for laptops, desktop computers, servers, and other electronic devices. Each of these electronic devices has its own requirements for the hard disk drive to be used, such as, e.g., access time, capacity, form factor, reliability, and data transmission rates.
A hard disk drive interface is the communication channel over which data flows as it is read from or written to the hard disk drive. Types of interfaces currently available include Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE), Advanced Technology Attachment (ATA), Small Computer System Interface (SCSI), Serial Attached ATA (SATA), and Serial Attached SCSI (SAS). This list of interfaces is not exhaustive and is constantly expanding to keep pace with the changing demands of the electronic devices that dictate the specifications of the hard disk drives and their interfaces.
SATA and SAS connectors are common types of connectors used in hard disk drive interfaces. According to the specifications set by the Small Form Factor (SFF) Committee, SATA connectors have 22 contacts of which 15 contacts (“power contacts”) are used for power transmission and 7 contacts (“primary port contacts”) are used for data signal transmission. In addition to the 22 contacts available in SATA connectors, SAS connectors have an additional 7 contacts (“secondary port contacts”) for data signal transmission.
Along with the continuing desire to have electronic devices that are physically smaller, have more computing power, and have faster processors comes the need to have hard disk drives that match these requirements. Thus, there is an industry need to have hard disk drive connectors with a smaller form factor (i.e., physical size) that are capable of handling high-speed (e.g., 6 Gbps) data transfer. Examples of such connectors include MicroSATA and MicroSAS connectors. MicroSATA and MicroSAS connectors have the same number of data signal contacts as SATA and SAS connectors, respectively. However, because MicroSATA and MicroSAS hard disk drives are physically smaller and consume less power than SATA and SAS hard disk drives, respectively, MicroSATA and MicroSAS connectors only require 9 power contacts. MicroSAS connectors have an additional 2 contacts (“auxiliary contacts”) for diagnostic or auxiliary use.
MicroSATA and MicroSAS connectors currently available in the market generally require a different layout of conductive pads (or “footprint”) on a mounting substrate, such as, e.g., a printed circuit board. In addition, MicroSAS connectors currently available in the market generally require a mounting substrate whereby conductive pads are disposed on both sides of the substrate.